Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1887-06-17
FARM AND HoUsEHOLD.

When SHOULD WHEAT BE CUT.-The
best time to cut wheat is spoint Of great
importance to the farmer. The most
valuable constituents Of grain Of wheat
are gluten, starch, and small amount
of phosphates. Gluten froms flesh !;
starch is heat producer and forms fat.
The per cent. of gluten varies in differ
emf kinds of wheat. Gluten is more
nutritious thar starch, its composition
more nearly resembling the muscular
tissue of animals.
Aside from the value Of gluten rs food
it has valuable properties. in combina-
ton with starch, for making bread.
Wheat containing a small amount oil
gluten Is softer. and will make much
whittier -four. for the gluten imparts a
yellowish shade. But, if flour contains
too little gluten, it will not rise, even
IL yeast be added. Gluten Qike glue)
forms, with water, tenacious paste, so
that when fermentive action begins in
the dough, the gluten forms cell
around the carbonic acid gas, and retains
it, causing the dough to rise. When
baked, such bread is very light and
sweet, though not as white as when
little gluten is present. Many farmers
are induced to cut their wheat too soon,
because the kernel remains large and
plump, from the moisture contained in
the starch. Wheat cOntaing a large
amount of gluten will appear shrun&en,
because the gluten readily yields its
moisture, but will be far more valuable
as food.
Repeated experiments have failed to
show any increase. either Of starch or
gluten, from day to day, after whea. has
been cut. The only rule we can suggest,
which may apply to all varieties, is this,
delay cutting as long as is compatible
with avoiding waste in handling. When
cut, secure it as promptly and as per-
fectly as possible. To make the best
bread, a good, sound, glutinous variety
of wheat must be sown on sound, dry
land; it must get fully ripe before 1t is
harvested be secured without damage,
aud must be properly ground.
EFFECT OF CLOVER ON SoIL.-The Farm
has this to say in relation to the effects
of manuring with clover:
One of the most remarkable studies in
practical farming is the wonderful re-
Operative and restorative effects of clo-
yer on land. The effect can hardly be
exaggerated. 1t is a mystery to many
farmers how a crop grown on soil can
impart to it more than it takes from it,.
Perhaps it will help them to understand
this to remind them but a small portion
of the plant comes from the soil. In a
ton of dry clover hay chemists tell us
there are but from LOG 10 l34 pounds of
organic matter (by which they mean
that which comes from the soiD, and all
the remainder is inorganic, or matter
that has come from the atmosphere.
Another feet which helds explain how
green manuring helps the soil is, that
in most soils there is enough plant food
20 grow hundreds of crops (and often
thousands) and much of this Is i'm a con-
dition in which it is not readily avala-
bic for the plant. One of our best mod
ern writers on agricultural chemistry
says:
$50 great is the wealth of fertility
stored in the soil that if the nitrogen,
phosphoric acid and potash contained in
the upper twelve inches of good soil
were valued at the prices charged for
them in our commercial fertilizers, a
farm of 100 acres would be worth about
half million of dollars"
This must be constantly borne in
mind: The question we are about to
solve in cultivation of our farms is not
when will the soil become perfectly ex-
hausted? but how can we manage it TO
get profitable crops at the least expense
now? Prof. Roberts, of the New York
Experiment Station, found that field
of clover which yielded 1926 pounds OF
cured hay had 1893 pounds of dried
roots, or nearly 600 pounds more Of
roots than of top.
SELECTING A BULL.-There is no part
of the business of breeding cattle that
requires more care and consideration on
the part of the breeder than the selection
of bull to place at the head of his herd.
A man Of long experience and good
judgement may by selecting the proper
bull raise superior herd from females
that are rather plain, while another
breeder, lacking the ability to make the
right choice of bull, will cause a good
herd to deteriorate on his hands. Too
many allow the question of price to have
undue weight, and will, under the mis-
taken idea that in doing SO they are
practicing economy, take an inferior
bull because he can be secured for few
dollars less. They fail to consider that
a difference in price, if only small
sum more on each calf got by him, will
amount to many times the difference in
the first investment Nat. Livestock
Journal
A SIMPLE REMEDY.-If your horses
are thin skinned and very much an
noyed with flies when working or driv-
ing, steep up "a handful of the wild
NORWOOD or bitter weed, wet cloth
in it and just moisten the hair especially
on ears, neck and legs, before taking
them out of stable; or few walnut
leaves will have the same effect. 1t will